Assessment Centre Workshop

The assessment centre workshop was a method of examination which involved placing us into groups and simulating the environment of an assessment centre which we are likely to encounter upon leaving higher education.

The day began early and started with being assigned to a group with four other students, after which five rounds of five minute interviews were carried out. Each member of the group had a different role to play in the interview process in separate rounds, including interviewer, interviewee and scribe. This gave us all a chance to encounter the sorts of questions that we are likely to be asked when applying for jobs and gave a wider understanding of just what kind of answers the interviewer is looking for.

After the interview questions the group conferred over what the grade the interviewee should receive and this was a good chance to apply peer reviewing skills and evaluate your own performance as well. The task was useful but could have perhaps been improved by giving the interviewee a specific job description as it would have made answering some of the questions and applying real life experience a lot easier.

Following on from this was the opportunity to take a series of self perception tests which were designed to tell you more about yourself but also give you an insight into what kind of worker you are, your strengths and weaknesses and how you would benefit a team. This was an interesting task as it gave me a clearer understanding of how I work.

The final task of the day was to work in the same groups as before and rank a series of emails by order of importance using the information given to us in a brief. It gave us a chance to engage in discussion and work as a team to assess the priorities of the mock company we were behind. This task showed me how delegation and time management skills are very important factors in a big company.

At the end of the workshop we were told that, similar to how a real assessment centre would be run, we had been assessed throughout the day from the moment we arrived to the moment we left. The workshop helped because not only did it give me an opportunity to work on my interview skills it also gave me an idea of how an assessment centre works which will stand me in good stead when it comes to future job hunting.